The Romans, on the contrary, having excellent points to their swords, used them not to cut but to thrust: and by thus repeatedly hitting the breasts and faces of the enemy, they eventually killed the greater number of them.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

Orlov, afraid of tears, went quickly into his study, and I don't know why—whether it was that he wished to cause her extra pain, or whether he remembered it was usually done in such cases—he locked the door after him.
— from The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Besides, it is well known, that all the Claudii, except Publius Claudius, who, to effect the banishment of Cicero, procured himself to be adopted by a plebeian 293 , and one younger than himself, were always of the patrician party, as well as great sticklers for the honour and power of that order; and so violent and obstinate in their opposition to the plebeians, that not one of them, even in the case of a trial for life by the people, would ever condescend to put on mourning, according to custom, or make any supplication to them for favour; and some of them in their contests, have even proceeded to lay hands on the tribunes of the people.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

though I do not [121] mean to compare his epistolary powers with yours, or to give him the same portion of my gratitude, he certainly has a very pleasing way of winding up a whole, and speeding truth into the world.
— from The Letters of Jane Austen Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord Bradbourne by Jane Austen

As for the Captain, his Escape protracted his Fate, and spun out his Life a few Days longer, for he was try’d the 10th, and being found Guilty, received Sentence in like Manner as the former; before which Judge Trot , made a most excellent Speech to him, rather somewhat too long to be taken into our History, yet I could not tell how to pass by so good and useful a Piece of Instruction, not knowing whose Hands this Book may happen to fall into.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

The woman of the greatest abilities, undoubtedly, that this country has ever produced.
— from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Mary Wollstonecraft

If, on the contrary and as usually happens, the inner suggestions and fertility of his fables absorb his interest, and he neglects to consult his external perceptions any further, or even forgets that any such perceptions originally inspired the myth, he will tend to become a dramatic poet, guided henceforth in his fictions only by his knowledge and love of human life.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

If it appeared that he had spoken truly, the captain could be turned out of the house without noising the matter abroad, and they could easily account to the Porkenhams for his disappearance, by saying that he had been appointed, through the Court influence of his family, to the governor-generalship of Sierra Leone, of Saugur Point, or any other of those salubrious climates which enchant Europeans so much, that when they once get there, they can hardly ever prevail upon themselves to come back again.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

It might be well if every man could come to the colony having equal property; but equality is impossible, and therefore we must avoid causes of offence by having property valued and by equalizing taxation.
— from Laws by Plato

A dull fear began to chill the girl’s heart and to check her earnest pleading: She felt that her words were making no impression on the silent man seated before her, and this knowledge brought weak hesitation to her tongue and faltering to her speech.
— from The Strong Arm by Robert Barr

In this library he wrote for the Crayon his entertaining paper on Garrick and his portrait, and his charming little volume entitled "Twelfth Night at the Century Club."
— from A Discourse on the Life, Character and Writings of Gulian Crommelin Verplanck Delivered before the New-York Historical Society, May 17th, 1870 by William Cullen Bryant

When the two cavaliers had entered, Planchet fastened the door behind them.
— from The Vicomte de Bragelonne Or Ten Years Later being the completion of "The Three Musketeers" And "Twenty Years After" by Alexandre Dumas

Miss Mugallow attracted a good deal of notice, wearing the celebrated heavily enamelled plated family Holly-hocks, and several débutantes in bright arsenical Emerald Green, who had not much to recommend them in the way of good looks, came in for a fair amount of cynically disagreeable comment.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 98, May 17, 1890. by Various

How trifling is the fame of any statesman that this country has ever produced to that of Lord Bacon, of Newton, or of Boyle; and how much greater are our obligations to such men as these, than to any other in the whole Biographia Britannica ; and every country, in which science has flourished, can furnish instances for similar observations.
— from Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air by Joseph Priestley

In most of these countries he erected pillars with hieroglyphical inscriptions; denoting that these parts of the world had been subdued by the great Sesostris, or, as [880] Diodorus expresses his name, Sesoosis.
— from A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.) by Jacob Bryant

That statement was made to you, gentlemen, for the purpose of making you believe that while Senator Dorsey was a member of the Senate he was also chairman of the PostOffice Committee, and of the subcommittee having power over the appropriations, and that he not only took advantage of being a Senator, but by virtue of being chairman of that committee had exceptional power over the officials of the Post-Office Department.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Complete Contents Dresden Edition—Twelve Volumes by Robert Green Ingersoll

Mr. Beecher was the most versatile and ready orator this country has ever produced,—a kind of Gladstone in the pulpit.
— from Hidden Treasures; Or, Why Some Succeed While Others Fail by Harry A. Lewis

Never did Father of the Church, however eloquent, plead the cause of God better than the Duchess.
— from The Thirteen by Honoré de Balzac